Another first telescope question ;)

[Bukko]

Bad news on the car, good news on the book.

Read the book, leave it for a few weeks, then read it again. Spend time, not money working out what you want to do, then, when you are ready, you can move forward.

Depending on what you want to image and how well you want to do it will set your limits. As most agree, the mount is the key and if you can work out what will be a good system for your needs, aim your purchasing for that goal..

But, if it really clicks with you, expect your needs, wishes and aspirations to evolve.

But be warned... I have a workmate who owns a horse and he now thinks Astronomy is almost as big a money pit...

Good luck with the car and the book !!

Gordon.

[Cuffbertt]

Well, time flies doesn't it. It's been almost eight years since I made my original post asking for advice. In that time I've replaced my crashed car, changed jobs twice, bought a house, got engaged, and witnessed what seems like the beginning of the end of the world.

But, still no telescope!

I found myself geting curious about AP a few times over the years, but each time I start getting interested again life jumped in the way and it all got forgotten. I've spent the last few weeks learning all I can, and I think I've finally figured out what I'd like to do. It seems like the best option for me is to use a small refractor and go-to equitorial mount. I'm a bit older now so my budget has increased, and I'd like to end up with a 70-80mm apochromatic refractor with an HEQ5 mount. Unfortunately I work as a design engineer in the aerospace industry so I've no idea what the next 6-12 months have in store, so I'll probably invest in the equipment bit by bit rather than all at once. Because the HEQ5 is a bit spendy and pretty much impossible to get at the moment, I've tested the water by buying an iOptron Skyguider pro. I've also retired my ancient and battered Canon 5DII and replaced it with a Fuji X-T2 and 100-400mm lens.

So far I've only taken photos of M31, but it's been awesome and I've learned a lot. I started taking 100 x 0.5 second subs untracked with a regular tripod (the same tripod I was using when I posted back in 2012!) and stacking them to make a muddy looking photo with a faint smudge in it. After getting the Skyguider I was able to take much longer subs; 60 seconds seems to be the sweet spot, I've tried 120 seconds and I feel like it's pushing it a bit far.

 

Anyways, I just wanted to post an update to my original post. I am back and will resume asking lots of basic questions!

[RT65CB-SWL]

Welcome back to SGL @Cuffbertt 

[Neil H]

Hi there is a very nice 102 on astro buy and sell its a really nice scope 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Neil H

[Cuffbertt]

This is my progress so far. They're not incredible I know, but each time I take a photo that slightly better than the last one it's such a great feeling of achievement!

 

My first Andromeda photo. Fuji X-T2 with 100-400mm lens. 100 x 0.5 second subs taken at 400mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6.

This was the image that I used a regular tripod for, hence the short subs. I used SiriL for Mac and it was difficult to use!

 

The next was taken after buying the Skyguider. 31 x 60 second subs, at ISO 1600, 400mm and f/5.6 again. Using the skyguider made a HUGE difference. I also took some dark and bias frames this time. After digging out an old laptop I managed to get Deep Sky Stacker working on it, but it's a slow process. As a side note, Mac users don't really have many options for stacking software!

 

 

This was my latest attempt. I parked up in a gravel car park in a nearby county park, which is pretty dark for somewhere that's only 15 mins from home. I tried to up the exposure time to 120 seconds and although there are definite star trails at 100%, it's not toooo bad. I think it's slightly out of focus going my the stars, so that's something to practice. This was 30 x 120 second subs, ISO 1600, 400mm, f/5.6. Stacked in DSS and processing pushed a bit futher in PS. This time I added flats along with darks and bias frames.

 

[Neil H]

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=166164

This is that 102